A writer friend of mine said she didn’t want to create an author newsletter, as she felt they were a bit ‘self-indulgent’. Cue much coughing and spluttering as I spat out my tea in disbelief. Email newsletters are far from self-indulgent. They are a smart, powerful way for authors to engage with their community. But more importantly, it isn’t really about the newsletter at all – it is about building a contact list that you own.

The key thing to remember about email newsletters is that the objective is different from using social media or other forms of awareness-building activities. You don’t find new readers or fans with an author newsletter, but you can better leverage the fans you already have.

Some people take social media breaks, others simply don’t log in regularly. People may miss out on your announcements – a new book, an online event, signed special editions – if you are relying on them to actively search out and find the information themselves. But a newsletter goes straight to their inbox. And I don’t know anyone who takes holidays from their emails (this is probably actually a damning indictment of our society, but that’s not what we’re here for…).

Email newsletters don’t have to be daunting to create either. You don’t need to create a tonne of extra newsletter-specific content (though you can if you want/have the capacity for it). Great author newsletters will balance a small amount of original content with a round-up of interesting recent content and announcements for those who may have missed them. Your newsletters can contain (to name a few):

• Recent blog posts
• News or announcements
• Calls to action (e.g. ‘Support me on Patreon’, ‘Pre-order my next book’)
• Giveaways
• Links to interviews you’ve done elsewhere
• External links to interesting content

Here are just a few reasons why all authors should have an author newsletter and build an email list.

You own the contacts

We invest untold hours on social media platforms building a following and creating content for externally-set requirements. But what happens if the platform suddenly goes under? Or, as happened recently, the masses leave the platform in droves? All those fans you spent so long building are no longer in touch with you!

Arguably, the biggest differentiator of an email newsletter compared to a social account is that you own those contacts. It is your email list, you hold the data, and you are not reliant on anyone else in order to be able to contact them.

You don’t have to rely on an algorithm to serve your content to your followers. If the platform goes down you can still reach them.

A more personal, exclusive connection

These are your true fans. More than just the casually curious, these folks wanted to invite you into their inboxes. That’s an honour and a privilege.

They want to hear from you!

Make more book sales

Not to get too marketing-speak on you but the return-on-investment (RoI) of email newsletters consistently knocks it out of the park over every 👏 other 👏  marketing 👏 strategy. Every single time. This is why business always build a contact list for email newsletters.

For authors, as much as we might say ‘it is about the art’, we want to sell books. Your subscribers are the most likely people to buy your book – and even better, make that all-important pre-order.

By engaging with them on a continuous basis they won’t be able to forget about you, even if the pace of the publishing industry is glacial and your next book isn’t coming out for several years.

Answer their questions, whet their appetites with exclusive previews, and build their excitement for your next project(s).

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay in-the-loop on all you need to know to put your best foot forward online. Coming soon: how to create an email newsletter!